


return to Eldervair

by satelliteinasupernova



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Depression, Eldritch, F/M, Family, Family Secrets, Future Fic, Gryphons and Gargoyles, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 20:10:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19069801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satelliteinasupernova/pseuds/satelliteinasupernova
Summary: There is no game quite like the one that rules over Eldervair, Riverdale’s mirror image. A fantasy world where the Gryphon Queen and her Hellcaster are entrenched in battle against the fates twisted by the Gargoyle King.This is the tale of a child returning home. What will it mean for her to come back to Riverdale? Will she simply become a pawn in a game she never knew existed?





	return to Eldervair

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this fic is named after the 1985 film Return to Oz. No, it does not include a person with an extensive collection of beautiful women’s heads. But, I don’t know, the Gargoyle King could be into that.
> 
> Thank you to my betas: [kayromantic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayromantic) and [RunaLiore!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunaLiore)

The bus station reeked of exhaust and gasoline. Trying to ignore the smell, Juliet adjusted her backpack strap so that the bag fit more comfortably against her back. She had been planning this trip for weeks, but now that her scheme was set in motion, her stomach was unsettled with nerves.

The morning had gone smoothly. Just as always, Aunt Jelly had stumbled out of her bedroom fifteen minutes before she had to go to work and had gone straight to the coffee machine. Juliet had focused on stuffing half of an Eggo waffle in her mouth before she had the courage to say, “Me and Shirley are going to see a movie tonight, so don’t expect me home for dinner.”

JB chuckled, “A healthy meal of popcorn and skittles?” She took a drink from her coffee mug, while using her free hand to reach for her bandana resting on the counter.

Juliet smiled, “Something like that.”

“Sure, kid. Make sure you do your chores before you go out. It’s trash day tomorrow.”

“Mhmm.” Juliet had answered, words muffled as she took another large bite of breakfast. It was easier to focus on that then on lying.

JB poured the rest of the coffee into a travel mug, and stepped around the kitchen table to pat Juliet on the head, “Be safe. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yep,” Juliet said, without looking up from her plate.

By tonight, she would be in Riverdale.

Now here she was, standing in front of the bus, ticket in hand. It was just a two and a half hour ride to Riverdale, where her parents lived. She had a letter her mom had sent stuffed into the pocket of her bag. It had their address handwritten neatly on the envelope.

The letter was only a few weeks old. _How are you, honey?_ it said. _JB sent us a copy of your project report. Dad and I are so proud of you. Are you excited about the summer?_

Maybe she could answer those questions for her in person, but first, Juliet had some questions of her own.

Juliet swallowed her nerves. Would they be angry with her?

They would probably be angry with her.

The Jones family had one rule that they never broke, no matter how much Juliet had questioned and begged for it as a child.

Juliet was not allowed to go to Riverdale.

Neither her aunt nor her parents had ever explained why. Even more frustrating, they were never able to give a satisfying explanation for why her parents had never left Riverdale themselves. It was just an accepted fact that Juliet’s place was to stay with Aunt Jelly in the small city where she worked at a mechanic shop, and that her parent’s place was in Riverdale.

It was all Juliet had ever known.

It wasn’t difficult living with Aunt Jelly. Juliet liked her school. She liked her friends. But knowing that her parents were only a few hours away, that she was never allowed to visit them, while they never came to her… It hurt.

Aunt Jelly said that her mom and dad were saving lives. When she was younger, Juliet found that comforting, and was even a little proud of her parents for it. Then she’d gotten older, and everything made less and less sense.

She grew frustrated. She stopped accepting her parents’ calls, and instead sulked from across the table while JB updated her parents on her life.

Well, she was fourteen now, and she was past sulking. She wanted proper answers, and she wanted to get them in person.

When she stepped onto the bus, the heat inside was intense and heavy. The summer sun was beating through the windows. As soon as Juliet slid into a seat, the worn plastic practically burned her through her jean shorts. She leaned up and pushed open the window beside her. The air that hit her was filled with exhaust, but it was better than no air at all.

The bus was mostly empty, just a few riders sprinkled among the seats. In the back, a small group of teens in leather jackets laughed among themselves. How they could stand to wear extra layers in this heat, Juliet couldn’t understand.

Juliet turned back to the front and settled into her seat as the bus pulled out of the station. Her nerves were starting to make her feel nauseous, so she pulled a candy bar out from the side of her bag. Nearly every side compartment was being used for holding snacks, except for the flat front pocket that her toothbrush had been stuffed into. “A Jones through and through,” Aunt Jelly liked to say.

Even though she was fourteen, Juliet still wasn’t allowed to have a smartphone. She had a really old flip phone that only allowed calls and texts. According to Jelly, it was way better than a fancy phone, because it was literally impossible to break, and any replacement phone would be coming out of her allowance. Juliet didn’t agree, but she had yet to win that battle. She did, however, have a tiny music player that her parents had gifted her a few years ago, already preloaded with music that they wanted her to hear.

That was the way with them. They often sent books, movies, and games that they loved. Aunt Jelly said it was their way of trying to connect with her, since they couldn’t be with her. The gifts only served as a reminder that her parents were never there. Bitter and upset, Juliet would actively pretend like the gifts didn’t matter to her. After unwrapping them, she would quickly set them up on her bedroom shelf without giving them a second glance, but late at night she would pull out a flashlight, pick one of the books from the shelf, and read it in the corner of her bedroom. She had read them all. Multiple times now.

Her mom liked to put notes in the margins. The Nancy Drew books had been her mom’s favorite as a kid, and her dad loved noir dramas and true crime. Juliet’s personal favorite was horror, but she had still grown to love mystery through her parents selections of books.

Still, she had loaded up her music player with new music. Stuff she and her friends listened to. It had a lot of free space, anyway.

 

During the long drive, she had a lot of time to cycle through her plan. What she wanted to say, what she wanted to ask.

She knew what the front of the house looked like from photos. As the bus bumped along the highway, passing tree after tree, she imagined herself walking up the steps to the red painted door. Her mom would answer. Maybe her dad. Before they had a chance to say anything, she would say. “I’m almost an adult now. I’m old enough to know more about Riverdale.”

They would probably want to send her back home, but she’d be resolute. She’d already planned around the bus schedule. There wouldn’t be another bus returning home until that night, so they would have to let her stay for at least the afternoon.

She gripped at the edges of her bag resting in her lap, and consciously straightened her back. She just had to be confident. People responded well to confidence. And her parents were people, after all.

And anyway, what could possibly be so bad about Riverdale?

 

It seemed both forever and too soon that the bus passed the sign welcoming them to Riverdale, _The Town with Pep!_ The design looked old-fashioned, but the sign looked like it had recently been given a fresh coat of paint.

If she had a smartphone, she might have considered taking a picture and sending it to her aunt. **Surprise!** She’d caption it.

But on second thought, that would probably only get her more in trouble.

Instead, she clutched her bag to her chest, and waited anxiously for the bus to get to the station.

Their bus wasn’t the only vehicle headed into town. She watched a beat up sedan impatiently pass them in the left lane, and continue to pass the commercial truck ahead of them. She was still looking when the vehicle passed too early, and clipped the side of the truck.

After that, she saw nothing except the back of the cushioned seat in front of her as the bus came to an aggressive halt. The squeal of the wheels almost completely drowned out the sound of screams from the other riders. Then finally, after swerving a full 90 degrees from the road, the bus came to a full stop.

“Everyone, stay in your seat,” the driver called with authority, “Is anyone injured?”

Juliet peered up to look around the bus, but everyone seemed to be shaking their head, each still catching their breath.

The bus driver turned back to the radio, and started relaying messages. Juliet heard something about a crash ahead, and a call for local officers. Eventually, when the panic eased off, and her heartbeat finally settled down, she sulked down into her seat. This was not how she wanted her first visit to Riverdale to go.

Her parents and Aunt Jelly were going to be furious with her.

She was stuck in limbo for a good thirty minutes until things seemed to finally start getting sorted out. It wasn’t until then that driver called for them all to temporarily exit the bus. Already tired, Juliet wondered if she could just walk to her parents house from where they were.

As she took a few steps out of the bus, she saw a sheriff's vehicle drive up and park just beyond the wreck. As the door opened and the driver stepped out, she almost completely missed the last step of the bus stairs and landed on the ground heavily, barely keeping her balance. The driver was her father.

For a few heartbeats, he didn’t notice her. He glanced around the wreckage in front of the bus, looking past her. For a brief moment she considered hiding, or running back up the bus, but before she had the chance to move, his eyes settled on her. Even from a distance, she could see his shoulders stiffen. She couldn’t hear him from where she was, but she could see him mouth her name. Immediately, he moved in quick strides toward the bus.

It struck her then that seeing her father in photos was completely different than what it was like to see him in person. The turn of his mouth, even the slight hunch of his shoulders was so familiar it triggered a deep ache in her heart.

“Juliet, what are you doing here?” he asked, now that he was close enough for her to hear.

“Uhhh,” was the only answer she was able to come up with.

“Are you hurt?” he asked instead, patting at her arms, and glancing at her head, her arms, her legs.

“No, I’m fine. I’m fine, Dad.” Her words nearly choked in her throat, “I just.. I just wanted to come—” This wasn’t how she wanted things to go at all.

Jughead pulled her to his side, and took another look around at the vehicles. He seemed to think for a moment, and looked almost apologetic when he said, “I have get a handle on the situation here. Go stand by the car for now. We’ll talk in a bit. Okay?”

His eyes were insistent, allowing no room for debate, so she sheepishly responded, “Yeah, okay.”

 

After ten minutes of just standing next to the car, she tried the side door and found it unlocked. For the next hour, she sat curled up in the seat, waiting. Every few minutes, her Dad would look back to her, but most of his attention was on the vehicle that had caused the crash and the ambulance near it.

Juliet was tempted to get a better look, but she didn’t really want to push her luck.

Finally, the vehicles started to pull away. She watched as her dad spoke with the bus driver and waved the vehicle off. Then, he picked up his phone as he walked back to the car. She could only hear the tail end of the conversation as he approached.

“Yeah, Betts.” A pause, “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

As he opened the driver’s side door, she could hear him more clearly. “Yeah, meet you there.” He hung up the phone and sat down in his seat. He breathed a heavy sigh, and for a moment he just looked at her, his face still tense. His eyebrows were turned into what Jelly’s girlfriend, Steph, liked to call “the Jones scowl.”

“You don’t scare me,” Steph had laughed when she pointed it out, “You Jones girls look ready to bite, but inside you’re all mush.”

She was used to blowing off Aunt Jelly when she tried to lecture her with that scowl, but right now next to Jughead Jones, she felt an inch tall.

With her knees up to her chest, she wondered if there was anyway she could make herself smaller than she already was. If he was going to lecture her on how it had been dangerous to just get on a bus to an unfamiliar town without telling anyone, she didn’t know what she would say. She didn’t really have an argument against that anymore.

Instead of lecturing her, he reached for his seatbelt and said, “We’re going to meet up with your mom at your cousins’ house.” He didn’t say anything more.

 

Juliet hadn’t been sure what to expect her cousins’ house to look like, but the last thing she had expected was for it to be a mansion. The building was dark in color, with almost gothic architecture, and didn’t seem to fit at all against the bright early afternoon sky.

Just outside the mansion gate was a yellow, refurbished convertible, and standing beside it was her mother. When Betty saw them approaching, she waved eagerly. She was almost bouncing in step. Immediately, Juliet thought she might burst into tears.

Before she even unbuckled, Betty opened the car door for her. As soon as she stepped out, Juliet was enveloped in a hug, and eagerly rocked from side to side.

“Honey, you’ve gotten so tall!” Her mother said. She smelled like the letters that she had sent. Like vanilla, with just the barest hint of something floral.

“I’m sorry—” she said almost immediately after her mom released her.

Betty’s smile started to fade as she looked at her thoughtfully. She rubbed Juliet’s arms, comfortingly. “It’s not ideal, but…. I’ve told JB you’re here. I want you to call her and apologize tomorrow, okay?”

That meant they weren’t going to send her back on the night bus at least. After the wreck, she hadn’t really been looking forward to it.

“Okay.” she answered, willingly.

Betty reached forward for another quick hug. “Jug and I have to get some work stuff taken care of, but your Aunt Cheryl said you could stay here for a few hours. You can meet your cousins,” she prompted playfully, nudging Juliet with her shoulder.

Juliet simply nodded.

“We’ll pick you up as soon as we’re done, and we can go to Pop’s for dinner.” If her mom’s letters were anything to go by, Pop’s was the only restaurant in Riverdale. It was also her dad’s favorite.

Out of the corner of her eye, Juliet saw the door to the mansion open. Two tall redheads stepped out and looked at her with clear curiosity. “That’s Juniper and Dagwood,” Betty explained. “They’re a bit older than you, but they’ll be excited to know you.”

“Have fun,” she added, and leaned forward to kiss Juliet on the forehead.

Kisses were never something that she and Aunt Jelly did. Usually, affection between them was just a quick shoulder hug, maybe a pat on the back. A kiss from her mother made Juliet feel warm all the way down to her toes.

As she made her way over to the front door, she kept glancing back. Betty had her hand in the air in a supportive wave, motioning her forward. Jughead had moved to stand next to her and had a hand on her back, his expression unreadable.

Steeling herself against her own nerves, Juliet stepped toward her cousins. They looked almost like adults, but not quite. ‘High schoolers?’ she wondered.

“Hi Juliet,” said the girl Juliet assumed was Juniper. She didn’t make a move to hug Juliet, but she had an amused smile on her face. “We’ve literally heard everything about you. You look just like your pictures.”

“You have?” Juliet asked. She didn’t know much about them at all.

The boy she assumed to be Dagwood rolled his eyes. “Your parents brag about you all the time. You’re shorter than I thought you’d be,” he added.

Before she could respond, a voice from behind them interrupted.

“It’s baby Jones!” A tiny, beautiful woman with faded pink hair pushed her way through the twins and immediately wrapped her arms tightly around Juliet.

“How did your dad react when he saw you,” she asked with amusement, “Did he cry?”

Juliet was taken aback by the question, “What? No.” There was something about the woman’s friendliness that made her add, “He was scowling.”

The woman just laughed, “To keep himself from crying, obviously.”

“Oh,” the woman said, pulling back, “I’m Toni, by the way. Cheryl’s wife. But I’ve been friends with your parents for almost forever now.”

Juliet didn’t really know what to say to that. She was still reeling from the new image of her dad trying to hold back tears, and trying to overlap it with her memory of his curt attitude at the wreck.

From the banister beyond them was the distinct echo of heels, clipping their way down the massive entry stairs. Juliet looked up to see a woman in a dress of black lace with a long train, her red hair tied back. Peeking out from the black lace at the end of her dress were brilliant red high heels. Juliet had never seen anyone who looked so much like they belonged in a gothic horror film before.

“Where is our little Jones that everyone is so excited about,’ she said as she made it to the last step. Somehow, Juliet found herself stepping forward, so that she was just within arms length of her.

The woman placed her hand on Juliet’s chin and adjusted her face to the side, as if inspecting her. “You really do look just like your father. That’s too bad.”

Behind her, Toni laughed, “Cheryl!”

“What?” Cheryl responded indignantly, “It’s true.” She turned back to Juliet, “You still have your mother’s eyes, though. Apparently there’s some Blossom in you, after all.” Juliet wanted to dislike her for her attitude, but found that she was mostly just awed by her.

“So you’re my…” Her mom had called her ‘Aunt Cheryl,’ but that didn’t seem right based on what little she did know about her extended family.

“I’m your mother’s cousin. Although, you could also consider me her brother-in-law’s sister. We don’t really talk about it. You can call me Aunt Cheryl, Juliet. The same as your cousins.”

From the side, Juniper and Dagwood gave a synchronized shrug.

There was a shuffle near the door as Toni picked up her bag.

“Where are you off to?” Cheryl asked, crossing her arms petulantly.

Toni lifted the camera strapped over her shoulders pointedly, “Some of us have work, babe.”

Cheryl huffed through her nose in away that was somehow still graceful.

“You guys have fun,” Toni said and glancing over at Juliet added, “I’m looking forward to getting to hang out with you later, Jules.”

As soon as Toni shut the door behind her, Cheryl turned away, “Well, I have business to attend to. Juniper. Dagwood. Entertain your cousin. I’m sure there’s plenty for you to do here.”

As Cheryl stepped away down the hall, Juliet couldn’t help but think that she had been lucky to have Jelly for an aunt.

 

* * *

 

In the passenger’s seat, Betty cycled through her notes on her phone as Jughead drove to the coroner's office. “There’s not much information on the body from the wreck yet. As you already said, most of the info from the crime scene points to the accident being deliberate. Ethel’s working on calling some of the witnesses.”

“I doubt we’ll get anything from that,” Jughead said, eyes still on the road.

“No, but it’s worth a shot. Hopefully, Dr. Curdle can give us something.”

In the meantime, Betty was getting text messages from literally every person in town who had heard Juliet was in Riverdale.

 **Yes, she’s here to visit** , she typed. **No, we don’t know how long yet.**

 **You must be so happy to see her!** Their neighbor, Ms. Shelley had sent.

Betty hadn’t gotten to the point of fully processing it yet. The burst of happiness she’d felt at seeing her daughter had quickly left a burning panic in its wake; if that was how she was feeling, then Jughead…

She glanced over at him. His hands where uncharacteristically tight around the steering wheel at a perfect 10 and 2. He looked tense, and had barely said a word since she’d gotten in the car.

Betty leaned back in her chair with a sigh, and looked out the window at the woods passing by along the road.

Within a few minutes, Jughead had pulled into the parking lot next to the coroner’s office. For a few heartbeats, he just stayed like that, both hands still on the wheel, staring out through the front window. Betty watched him silently, waiting.

Then, in one fluid motion, he twisted the keys in the ignition to turn off the vehicle, and slid around toward her, burying his face into her shoulder.

“Fuck, Betts.” he muttered against the fabric of her shirt.

She immediately pulled her arms up to wrap around him. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay, Jug.” She tried to keep her voice calm, “We knew this would happen eventually.”

He released a slow breath. Warm air spread across her collar bone. As he sat up, she reached a hand out to thumb across his cheek. “We can manage,” she said, looking him directly in the eyes.

He blinked back at her, and pulled his mouth back into an expression that wasn’t quite a smile, but wasn’t a frown either. “Let’s just get this first part figured out.”

“That’s the spirit,” she said with a smile, giving him a soft pat on the cheek. He just shook his head at her in amusement, and got out of the car.

 

“I imagine you won’t be surprised by what I have to say,” Dr. Curdle said as he led them in front of an examining table. “The cause of death was trauma to the head from when the driver collided with the front window.”

“Any identification?” Betty asked.

“Not yet, unfortunately. I’ve sent in for fingerprint and dental analysis. There was nothing to identify the deceased with their belongings. However,” he stepped over to a box filled with bagged items, “There was something that I think you’ll find interesting.” He handed Jughead a plastic bag, inside it was a very familiar card.

Within the quest box were the words, _Lure the Hellcaster_.

“Great,” was Jughead’s response.

 

* * *

 

“The last Blossom mansion was burned in a fire, so everything here is new. Designed to Aunt Cheryl’s taste,” Juniper explained as she ran her hand along the upstairs banister.

“Wow.” Juliet said, leaning over to look up at the stained glass window that made up the ceiling of the multi-level stairwell.

“It has three stories, almost twenty rooms, but honestly, things can get a bit dull here.”

“It’s not as exciting as it looks,” Dagwood said morosely.

Juliet found herself starting to grow frustrated. Now that the alarm from being found by her parents had worn off, she was starting to get impatient. She knew she would hate the answer, but she found herself asking the question anyway, “Do you see my parents a lot?”

“Sure,” Dagwood said. “They’re always checking up on us.”

“Aunt Betty used to watch us all the time when we were kids.”

“Helped with homework, that kind of thing.”

“Uncle Jughead broke up a party we were at the other night. That was embarrassing.”

“What kind of party?” Juliet asked, skeptically.

“Oh, just some high school party. The parents were out of town for the weekend.”

How could some random high schooler’s parents leave town, but not hers? Sure, Riverdale apparently had a creepy mansion, but other than that, she had yet to see much that warranted her being banished from the town for her whole life. With a huff, she started to voice her frustration. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. This place seems completely normal to me.” She took another look around the hallway, “Well, not here, obviously. Riverdale. It’s just a normal town.”

The twins looked at each other.

“We should play a game,” said Juniper.

“Let’s go to the parlor,” added Dagwood.

 

* * *

 

Betty and Jughead’s next stop was the mayor’s office. Now that they knew a new game had begun, it was imperative to get everyone up to speed as soon as possible. Jughead marched up the stairs quickly, while Betty followed just behind. The attendant at the front desk waved them past without question.

Just outside the mayor’s office, Fangs was seated, wearing his deputy uniform, leaning back in his chair.

“Look alive, Fogarty.” Jughead called. Betty smiled at him. Fangs always seemed to find a reason to be in the vicinity of the mayor.

“Hey!” He responded, good naturedly, “I heard your kid was in town! How long is she going to be around, I want to meet her.”

Betty cut Jughead off before he could give a clippy response, “We’re still working it out, but we’ll let you know.”

Fangs made the motion of tipping his hat, without actually wearing one.

Jughead pushed the door to the mayor’s office open.

“You’ve had quite the busy morning,” Kevin called, before they had even fully made it into the room.

“Yeah,” Jughead responded simply. Betty pulled out the plastic bag they had received from the coroner’s office and tossed it onto Kevin’s desk.

He took only a moment to read the quest written on the card. “So, it’s the beginning of a new game, then,” Kevin sighed.

 

 

The mayor, the sheriff, and the head of the local newspaper. They functioned as a three man team against the Gargoyle King’s game.

Betty had been the last of them to accept what Riverdale was.

Jughead, unsurprisingly, had been the first. He had dug in deep to the lore of Gryphons and Gargoyles from the moment that he learned about it. He locked himself up in the bunker they had found in Fox’s Forest, barely sleeping, rarely leaving. It had scared her, the intensity that he obsessed over it. One night, eyes bloodshot from multiple days without sleep, surrounded by cups of coffee and energy drinks, he had laid everything out across a table and tried to explain it to her.

“This game, it **is** Riverdale.” he insisted. “I mean just look at it. Eldervair.” He pulled two wrinkled maps out from under the other papers. One was the familiar sketch of Riverdale that had been up in the town hall since her childhood. The other was apparently the fantasy world of Eldervair.

“See?” he said, running his fingers along the road of the map. “They’re the same.”

She sighed with frustration, “So, someone used Riverdale as their inspiration in making a Dungeons and Dragons rip off? I don’t understand your point, Jughead.”

“No, Betty. It’s more than that. This isn’t _just_ a game.” He had a manic look in his eyes that chilled her to the bone. This wasn’t healthy. He was getting too stuck in the weeds and had seemed to have lost all perspective.

She grabbed for the papers in front of her, and bundled them into her arms. Luckily, there was a well stock of matches in the bunker, since their only source of light was a collection of candles set across surfaces around the bunker. “You need to let this go, Jughead!”

He stood up, following her as she moved over to the metal trash can. “Betty- Betty, wait. Just listen to me.” He reached for her arm, but she shoved him back, stuffing the papers in the trash before reaching for a matchbox.

He took a different approach, putting his arms around her back, hugging her from behind. “Just let me prove it to you. I can prove it. I’m not insane, if that’s what you think.”

She eyed him over her shoulder, “I think you’re sleep-deprived and being locked up down here is just making it worse.”

“Please, Betts,” he begged.

Eventually, she’d caved. Against her better judgement, she participated in a game. Then the floor had fallen out from under her when all the events that had occured in Jughead’s fantasy world had very soon taken place in parallel around her.

Kevin, however, had come to understand the game of Riverdale long before she learned to accept it. He had run his own version of Gryphons and Gargoyles, and then watched as his player’s lives started to fall apart. When the intensity of the game started to scare them, one of them had ran. Weeks later, the corpse was found hidden under bramble deep into the forest.

Almost twenty years later, and they were still playing. This was just a new round, and it was beginning at the worst possible time.

 

* * *

  
Juliet had never been in a parlor before, but the one in the Blossom mansion was exactly what she had imagined a parlor to look like. It was filled with deep red furniture that matched the curtains draped over tall windows that looked out into the forest behind the house.

Juniper and Dagwood huddled over a thin desk beside the wall, pulling up the panel of wood to reveal a compartment underneath. They spoke conspiratorially amongst themselves.

“Cards? Tarot?” Juniper asked.

Dagwood pulled up a pamphlet and a small set of cards, “No, we should start with the original.”

“Gryphons and Gargoyles, it is.”

In unison, they turned toward Juliet. “Do you want to play?” Juniper held up a booklet that had the etchings of two monsters on the cover.

“What is it?” Juliet asked.

“It’s a fantasy game. You play to save the realm from a creature of fate, The Gargoyle King.”

It didn’t really sound like her thing, but her cousins were looking at her so eagerly, that she agreed anyway. “Sure.”

They motioned for her to sit at a large round table in the center of the room. As Juniper organized the cards, Dagwood set up the map. They had an almost childish excitement on their faces.

“How old are you two, anyway,” Juliet finally asked out loud.

“Eighteen,” Dagwood answered.

“We just graduated last month,” Juniper explained, “We’ll begin our training to take on the family business after the summer is over.”

“In the Maple trade.”

“Aren’t you still… young for that?”

 _Wasn’t it normal to go off to college before that kind of thing?_ Juliet thought to herself.

“I don’t think so.”

“They say you grow up fast in Riverdale.”

“Your parents got married when they were just our age, you know.”

Juliet did know. When she was still in elementary school, she used to ask Aunt Jelly about her parents all the time. She would pull out a shoebox of photographs, and have Jelly give her the backstory of each one. For the ones that her aunt didn’t know, Juliet would make up her own backstory for.

But her favorite of them all was the photo from Betty and Jughead’s wedding. Her mother beautiful in white with her cheek pressed against her husband. Jughead’s expression was soft, warm, and kind. It was starkly different from the begrudging smile he had in most of the other photos in Juliet’s photo collection.

In a fit of rebellion, she had thrown the box out on her thirteenth birthday, but that photograph was the one that she most regretted losing.

“Aunt Betty had lost everyone in her family except for us and Aunt Cheryl by then,” Juniper said, thoughtfully. “Uncle Jug told her he wanted to be her family.”

Juliet knew that too.

“Did you know our grandfather was a serial killer?” Dagwood asked, practically interrupting his sister.

No.

“He was prolific, too. He spent a whole year terrorizing Riverdale, hiding his face under a ski mask. They called him the Black Hood.”

Juliet crossed her arms, “You’re just making this up.”

Dagwood looked nonplussed, “It was your mom that found him out.”

“Well, anyway, he’s dead,” Juniper said.

“Killed by our grandmother.” Dagwood added.

“But not your grandmother,” Juniper clarified, “Just ours. Look, are we going to play or not?”

Juliet wasn’t so sure anymore, but didn’t know how to change course without just standing up and leaving. Mostly she just wanted to know if they were messing with her. She stayed seated.

Juniper laid out a series of cards across the table, each with a different character on the face of them.

“Pick your role,” directed Dagwood.

“But might I suggest,” Juniper added thoughtfully, “The Hellcaster.” She pushed the card toward Juliet across the table. “A king in his own right, the Hellcaster has claimed fealty to the Gryphon Queen. In her honor, he aims to strategically challenge the Gargoyle King to relinquish his hold on Eldervair.”

“Are you really just using an anagram of Riverdale?” Juliet asked with annoyance.

“Not us,” said Juniper.

“The Gargoyle King,” said Dagwood.

Juliet sighed. “Fine,” she said and reached for the Hellcaster card.

 

* * *

  
As Jughead drove them back to the Blossom house, Betty reached over for his hand. He noticed almost immediately, and positioned his left hand to take over the steering, so that he could entwine his right with hers.

Juliet’s appearance and the beginning of a new game couldn’t be a coincidence. It made Betty’s stomach twist into knots. How much could they tell her? How much _should_ they tell her?

Maybe they had put this off for too long, but Juliet was still so young.

Betty and Jughead had barely been considered adults themselves when Juliet was born. They had spoken about wanting to have children since before they had gotten married, but it wasn’t until Betty found out that she was pregnant that they fully realized just how much having a baby mattered to them. After everything that had happened, the happiness they had in starting a family almost felt rebellious. Betty’s family was all but gone, and Jughead’s was scattered to the winds. But they had each other, and they had their baby girl.

As a baby, Juliet had been perpetually pensive. She would stare at the world around her with a wrinkled brow and stern eyes as if it was all completely inscrutable, but then at the slightest provocation she would burst into peals of laughter. Betty had never forgotten that sound, and it still regularly showed up in her dreams.

She wondered what Juliet’s laughter sounded like now.

 

Things had changed when FP died. What made everything worse was that Jughead initially blamed himself for his death. Jughead had long been leading G&G games of his own for the sake of making offensive moves against the Gargoyle King, and many times it had worked. It was how they had set up the moves to allow Veronica to leave Riverdale and escape her never ending conflict with her father. It was also how they were able to free Archie, after he had nearly died in a boxing match that had gone completely out of control.

Jughead had been confident in his game plan, but one poor move had caused a domino effect, and then nearly everything had fallen apart. FP was able to save the lives of the younger serpents involved, but he was lost in the process. His death forced them to fully accept the danger of living in Riverdale, and what it meant for their daughter.

It was the worst fight Betty and Jughead had ever had. Immediately following his father’s funeral, Jughead was prepared to pack her a bag and drop her off at the outskirts of Riverdale with Juliet, alone. He had stormed up to their bedroom and pulled her suitcase from where it was tucked away in the closet.

She didn’t even remember what either of them had said that night. As she followed him to their bedroom, they had both been talking over each other, barely hearing what the other said. It culminated with Betty finally screaming at the top of her lungs, voice raw, “ _You can’t make me leave you_!”

They had been disrupted then by the sound of Juliet crying from her bedroom down the hall. Jughead had given her a weary look, and walked past her to go calm Juliet down.

Exhausted, Betty had sunk to the floor, feeling completely and utterly numb.

She knew what he was thinking. She didn’t even fully disagree with him. Riverdale wasn’t safe for Juliet. It wasn’t safe for anyone. But her stomach churned at the idea of Jughead in Riverdale alone, even for the sake of their daughter.

There was a soft creak at the door, and Betty looked up to see JB standing there, her expression pensive. Betty felt her face burn red. In the heat of the moment, she had completely forgotten that JB was in the house.

“I’m sorry, JB-” she started. The last thing JB needed to hear after her father’s funeral was a shouting match between her brother and sister-in-law.

JB just shook her head. Her voice was quiet, but resolute when she said, “If you need someone to get Jules out of Riverdale, I’ll take her.”

Betty stared up at her.

“It’s just an option,” she continued, “I would take care of her. I can protect her, you know I can.”

She did. If it had been anyone else offering, it would have only prompted Betty to run to her daughter and hold her tightly to her chest. But JB was family. And more importantly, she was clever, and she understood the way that Riverdale worked.

“Anyway, I’ll talk to Jughead. Just… think about it.” JB shut the door behind her as she quietly walked away, leaving Betty to soak in the terrible thought of letting her baby go. Without her.

Her heart immediately screamed, “ _No_ ,” but it was followed swiftly by the certain dread that if she left Riverdale, leaving Jughead on his own, it would only be a matter of time that she found herself coming back. And it would be for her husband’s funeral. Since they were teenagers, Betty had found herself reunited with Jughead time and time again, only to find him barely in one piece. If she left for good, it would only be worse.

If they tried to leave Riverdale together with their daughter, the chance that the game would pulled them back was only more likely. The game followed them everywhere, even outside of the town limits. They had tried before, shortly after their wedding. The two of them had driven off with two small bags on Jughead’s motorcycle. They had been settled into a cheap apartment for three weeks, when one night they had been woken up by the sound of one of their neighbors breaking down their door with an axe. After Betty had managed to knock him out with a taser, Jughead had found a quest card in the man’s front pocket. The words inside the quest box had been, _Send a message_.

As if the Gargoyle King was pleased with their decision, no quest cards had shown up for months after they returned home.

 

Still seated on the floor, Betty slumped back against her dresser, feeling completely overwhelmed. She couldn’t even find the energy to cry. For what felt like eternity, she just stared blankly at the ceiling. Eventually, she found the energy to push herself off the floor and crawl into bed, burrowing herself under the comforter.

It wasn’t until hours later that she woke up to the feeling of movement from the other side of the bed. Jughead shifted until he was right beside her, and curled his arms around her torso, burying his face into her hair. For a few minutes, he just stayed there. She could feel his steady breathing and the beating of his heart against her back. Eventually, he softly whispered to her, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to make the decision for you.” He took another breath, this time it cracked into a sob. He pushed his face against her shoulders, and muttered, “I’m so sorry.”

All the emotions that had been buried under her own numbness came back in full force then. To keep herself from breaking into sobs, she bit down on her bottom lip so hard that she tasted blood. For the rest of the night, she barely slept, even with Jughead’s arms wrapped tightly around her.

The next day, they started making plans to have JB escape Riverdale with their daughter.

* * *

“Hellcaster, the Gryphon Queen has entrusted you with a request. An envoy holding an important artifact said to have the powers to counter the Gargoyle King was stopped in route and raided. She believes the act may have been ordered by the Gargoyle King himself. She charges you with performing an investigation and hunting for clues to begin to take action.” Juniper read out with authority.

 _This is so nerdy_ , Juliet thought with a huff.

“As you make your way to the designated site, you find multiple caravans overturned. It seems that before it was raided, the vehicles had plummeted into each other.”

Juliet twisted her mouth. Were the day’s similarities on purpose? She glanced up at Juniper and Dagwood and studied their faces. They looked dead serious, but she was becoming more convinced by the second that they were messing with her.

Juniper was looking at her expectantly, so Juliet asked, “What do I do?”

“The Hellcaster has good perception,” Dagwood explained, helpfully, “Try rolling the dice.”

Juliet reached for the dice in front of her and tossed it. It landed on twelve.

“With your perception bonus, that’s very good,” Juniper appraised. “As you get close to the first caravan you notice that unlike the other vehicles, there are no deep tracks below the wheels, it is as though the caravan made no attempt to stop.”

“Was the driver knocked out?” Juliet asked, thoughtfully.

“You can put another card in play,” Juniper answered, looking down at the other player cards.

Dagwood reached across the table to pick up a card from the set, “The Necromancer. He studies the dead, and when they are willing, sometimes he is able to speak with them.”

“Okay,” Juliet said with a shrug.

Dagwood reached over for the dice, and tossed it himself. It landed on a ten.

Juniper continued, “The dead keeps its secrets close, but you are able to surmise that the driver was active and conscious at the time the caravan collapsed.”

“So it was intentional.” Juliet thought out loud.

“You could surmise that.” Juniper answered.

“What next?”

“Luckily, the Gryphon Queen has gifted you with a boon of knowledge. It seems that the caravan driver had been witnessed deep within the cursed forest. The journey will be dangerous, but if you choose to act on it, there is a good chance that you will learn more about the Gargoyle King’s plan. Are you willing to take that risk?”

“Sure,” Juliet shrugged.

A brief look of frustration passed over Juniper’s face, but she continued. “You make it into the woods, but you must tread carefully. Walk delicately to avoid the attention of the Gargoyle King himself.”

“This is when you roll,” Dagwood explained, handing Juliet the dice. She tossed it, and watched as it landed on a six.

“Careful,” Juniper muttered under her breath. She cleared her throat and quickly regained her composure. “You lose your footing on the way. Unfortunately, you have no way of easily covering your tracks, so you move ahead. There is a light of fire beyond and you recognize the symbols of the Gargoyle King’s lair.”

Juliet waited for instruction, but Juniper and Dagwood were both still, watching her with bated breath. Impatient, she asked, “Do I roll again, or…?”

The twins nodded. Juliet reached out and tossed the dice. This time, it landed on one.

The twins both took a sudden inward breath.

“What?” Juliet asked, now uncomfortable. “I guess that’s bad, right?”

“Jules?” Juliet near jumped from her chair. It was her mother’s voice calling from downstairs. “Are you ready for dinner?”

“Um,” she said before raising her voice, “Yeah, I’m coming!”

As she stood up, Juniper reached out for her hand. “Juliet.” She paused, her eyes stern as she looked into Juliet’s eyes, “Think about what you will do next.”

“What?” Juliet asked, dumbfounded.

“Think about what your next move would be,” Juniper said, pointing to the table.

Juliet looked down at the map and scattered cards. She had found herself pulled in for a moment, but it really was just a game. Did this mean they going to make her play again?

“Sure, okay.” She said dismissively. She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs without looking back, but she could still feel her cousins’ eyes on her as she went.

 

By the time that Betty pulled them up to Pop’s parking lot in her small yellow car, Jughead was already seated at a booth inside. Juliet slid into the opposite side, and reached over for a menu. Jughead slid the other menus back behind the condiments. Neither he nor Betty seemed to need it.

“How was hanging out with your cousins?” Betty asked.

“Uh,” Juliet said at first. “They’re kind of weird.”

Her father snorted, and Juliet smiled proudly to herself.

“They’re well-intentioned,” Betty said, breezily.

“They had me play some game I’d never heard of.”

“What game?” her mother questioned, thoughtfully.

“Uh,” _What was it called again_? “Something-and gargoyles?”

Betty’s mouth tightened, and next to her, Jughead leaned back against the seat, his eyes rolling to the side. “Well-intentioned, my ass,” Juliet barely heard him mutter.

Betty rested her hand on Jughead’s arm before she said, “Did it go okay?”

Juliet shrugged, “I don’t think it’s my kind of game. They were really into it.”

Betty and Jughead eyed each other meaningfully.

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Betty said, still looking at Jughead.

Juliet’s mind was now full of questions, but somehow the questions that she most wanted to ask weren’t the ones that she had planned when she had caught the bus to Riverdale.

She looked up at her mother from over the menu in her hands. “Is it true that my grandfather is a serial killer?”

Betty blinked in surprise, her shoulder stiffening. A shadow descended over her face. Jughead’s response was almost immediate, reaching over to hold her hand resting on the table. Suddenly, the idea didn’t feel like a game the twins had been playing on her anymore.

“Yes,” Betty said eventually. “I’m guessing Juniper and Dagwood told you that?”

“I thought they were messing with me,” Juliet admitted.

“No. It’s true.” Betty was thoughtfully quiet for a moment before she continued, “Our family has a very dark past, Juliet, but I think we’ve come a long way since then. All considering.”

Juliet felt a little guilty for asking, but when she met her mother’s eyes, Betty gave her a small smile.

“Well,” Betty said, clearly changing the subject. She reached forward to poke at Juliet’s menu, “If you and Dad want to decide on a second meal to split between you, then you’d better decide now. I think they’re about to take our order.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” said Jughead. Almost instantly, the tension among them dispelled.

 

It wasn’t until they were nearly done with the meal, and Juliet had fully updated them on her school finals and how her friends were doing that she finally broached the subject that she was really concerned about.

“Are you going to make me go back?” she asked, wanting to at least be emotionally prepared before they shipped her back to Aunt Jelly.

Betty glanced over at her husband, who visibly winced. Juliet sunk down into her seat.

When Betty finally spoke, it was careful and slow, “Do you want to go back?”

“No,” Juliet huffed, “I want to stay here with you.”

Her parents eyes met for the briefest moment, and it was as though they had had a full conversation in the span of the look. When they turned away from each other, Jughead ran a hand over his face. It was her mother who eventually spoke, “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

At first, Juliet didn’t believe her ears. She sat up excitedly, “Really?”

“Yes, but you have to do as we say, and get our permission before you go anywhere.” Her mother’s voice turned stern.

“And if anything happens, tell us immediately. No hopping buses without telling anyone either,” her father added.

Juliet nodded, but added a bit rebelliously “I take care of myself at home all the time.”

For a moment neither of them said anything. Eventually, Betty explained softly, “Things… can quickly spin out of control in Riverdale. Like that wreck from this morning.”

“That was just an accident,” Juliet responded, furrowing her brow. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help think of Juniper and Dagwood’s game.

Betty frowned for a moment, in thought. It was her dad that spoke, “We just want you safe, Jules.”

Betty nodded in agreement with him and looked at Juliet with a solemn expression, “I know you’ve been upset with us lately, Juliet.”

“Not really,” Juliet said, starting to blush. It was a lie and they knew it. Aunt Jelly told them practically everything. Her parents reacted with an almost identical look of disbelief. “I mean,” she corrected, “I just wanted to see you.”

“Honey,” Betty said softly, “We have always wanted to see you too. Everyday. We are happy to have you here, but you can only stay if you follow our rules.”

“Okay,” Juliet said, conceding, “I promise to get permission before I do anything. I just want to stay.”

“Okay,” her parents responded softly, nearly at the same time.

 

The sun was starting to set when they finally got back to the house with the red painted door. It still looked just like it did in photos, except there was a motorcycle parked out front. As Betty slide the yellow car into the garage, Juliet was able to see a full stock of auto repair supplies. It looked a lot like Aunt Jelly’s station at work.

Compared to the small apartment that she lived in with Aunt Jelly, the house looked just like she imagined a home should. She recognized the fireplace, the kitchen, even the stairwell all from photos that she had seen.

“C’mon,” her mother said after Juliet had stopped gawking at the house, “I’ll show you your bedroom.”

The bedroom had floral wallpaper with white furniture and a vanity along the wall. As Juliet stepped inside, she was immediately drawn to the collection of photos clipped to the mirror and placed in frames across the counter surface. She recognized a lot of them. Childhood pictures of her mother, baby pictures of Juliet being held by her parents. A selfie Aunt Jelly had taken with her last year. Just next to the vanity, in a pretty silver frame, was her favorite of her old collection, her parent’s wedding photo. Juliet leaned over to look at it. It was just like she remembered.

“This room was your nursery when you were a baby, and it was my childhood bedroom before that. It mostly serves as a guest room now, but you’re welcome to make it your own. Let us know if you want to move anything.

“No, this is okay,” Juliet said. She had found a picture she hadn’t seen before, one where her parents looked to be about her age. Betty stepped closer to look over her shoulder. Juliet could see her smile from the reflection in the mirror.

“It used to be that you would never see Jug without that beanie,” her mom chucked. “We sent it with you when you left. Do you still have it?”

She nodded. It was in her backpack right now, though she couldn’t explain why she had thought to bring it along.

For a moment, her mom leaned against the desk without saying anything. Juliet continued to look around the room, not sure of what else to do.

“Well,” Betty finally said, “It’s been a long day, so I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, your dad and I are in the bedroom down the hall.”

“Okay,” Juliet answered quietly, as her mom shut the bedroom door.

The sun had fully set, so Juliet reached forward to turn on the floor lamp next to the vanity. There was a cushioned seat next to the window that would make for a perfect reading nook. Resting next to a matching set of pillows was a plush white dog, and a small plush white and red cat.

Juliet leaned over to touch the dog’s ear playfully, when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. The outside was covered in shadow, but she could almost see a form walking out among the trees beside the neighboring house. The form tilted its head. It had what looked like wings of twigs that trembled against the wind.

As Juliet leaned forward to get a clearer look, a car drove by, its headlights illuminating the whole area. Under the light, the form turned out to be just a bush next to a splintered tree.

Taking a breath, Juliet took a step back, and quickly shut the curtains.

 


End file.
